Spill-out prevention attachment for stereotype plate-casting machines



Jan. 8, 1963 T. J. CORCORAN 3,071,329

SPILL-OUT PREVENTION ATTACHMENT FOR STEREOTYPE PLATE-CASTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 19, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

THU/W45- J. CORC ORA N a/114e,! w

AT TOR/V5715 Jan. 8, 1963 T. J. CORCORAN 3,071,829

SPILL-POUT PREVENTION ATTACHMENT FOR STEREOTYPE PLATE-CASTING. MACHINES Filed Aug. 19, 1960 2 heets-Shee 2 INVENTOR. THOMAS J.COECOEA N awa /9 A TT'OENE Y5 United States Patent Ofitice 3,071,829 Patented .lan. 8,1963

SPILL-OUT PREVENTION ATTACHMENT FUR STEREOTYPE PLATE-CASTING MACHWES Thomas Joseph Corcoran, Miami, Fla., assignor to Miami Herald PuhlishingCompany, Miami, Fla, a corporation of Florida Filed Aug. 19, 1960, Ser. No. 50,639 10 Claims. (Cl. 222) This invention relates to stereotype plate casting machines and, in particular, to spillout prevention devices for such machines.

Heretofore, extensive use has been made in the newspaper printing industry and in other branches of the printing industry of so-called metal stereotype plates which are cast in partially cylindrical form from stereotype matrices of special tough stiff paper upon which the impressions of the typed or electrotyped material has been impressed from contact with flat electrotype plates and type say from a conventional line-casting machine. The substantially fiat stereotype mat or matrix produced by these conventional processe and bearing the typed or electrotyped impressions is then curved or bent into partially cylindrical form when it is placed in a stereotype plate-casting machine and molten type metal poured into the mold cavity in order to cast a partially cylindrical printing plate bearing the printed matter and illustrations which have been impressed upon the stereotype mat. Such stereotype plate-casting machine enable the rapid and inexpensive production of multiple cylindrical printing plates from a single stereotype mat produced from a single assembly of line-casting machine typed matter and electrotypes of illustrations. Such stereotype plate casting machines have reached a high degree of development over the past 50 years and now operate automatically or semi-automatically to turn out the partially cylindrical printing plate which can then be placed immediately upon the printing press and the newspapers or other printed matter run off at high speeds.

One expensive and time-consuming accident which occasionally arises in the use of conventional stereotype plate-casting machines is so-called spill-out or accidental discharge of molten type metal into the mechanism of the machine. The conventional stereotype plate-casting machine includes a heated cauldron which contains molten type metal. A pump for molten metal is suspended in the cauldron beneath the level of the molten type metal and has a shaft driven by an electric motor to pump molten metal from the cauldron through a feed conduit into the partially cylindrical mold cavity between the two relatively-movable mold halves known as the cylinder and ring. The stereotype mat or matrix is bent into partially cylindrical form and placed in this mold cavity. When the moldhalves have been closedby the operation of the electric motor and the pump is operated, molten metalfiows into the mold cavity to cast a partially cylindrical printing plate upon which is reproduced the printing or illustrated matter impressed onthe stereotype mat.

Occasionally, however, a metal chip or other foreignmatter accidentally gets in between the mold halves of this machine, preventing them from completely closing and thus holding them apart slightly while the molten metal continues to be pumped into the mold cavity. Asa result,

some of the molten metal spills out through the crack or gap between themold halves'and flows into the mecha-' nism of the machine, where it solidifies and has to be dug out by hand. Such an accident not only requires the machine to be shut down for several hours or more in order to remove the solidified metal from the mechanism, but

alsoinvolvesthe expenditure of expensive labor inremoving the spilled metal.

Hitherto, a shear pin has been provided in conventional stereotype plate-casting machines for interrupting the drive between the motor and the movable mold half, which shear pin is intended to be sheared off when the mold hangs up in this manner and spill-out occurs, as a result of the continued operation of the driving motor. The severing of the shear pin between normallyrelatively movable machine parts now permits such relative motion to move a cam'which actuates a switch controlling the energization of the driving motor. This converitiorial safety feature, however, is not sufiicient to prevent a mas sive spill-out of molten type metal through the gap or crack between the mold halves because of the momentum of the moving parts of the pump, which causes the pump to continue pumping for an additional short time sufiicient to cause considerable spill-out.

As an additional safety device for attemptedly reducing the damaging eli'ect of spill-out, the molten metal pump of the conventional stereotype plate-casting machine is provided with a bypass valve and bypass conduit operative to bypass the molten metal discharged from the pump directly back into the cauldron without permitting it to be ejected through the molten metal feed conduit into the mold cavity. A hand lever operatively connected to thestem or shaft of this bypass valve can be'actuated by the machine operator to cause bypass of the molten metal when spill-out occurs. The effective operation of this manually-operated bypass valve, however, depends entirely on the vigilance of the operator and upon the chance that he will detect spill-out as soon as it commences and instantly shift the bypass valve to halt the further flow of molten metal into the mold cavity. Such vigilance on the part of the operator is rare, however, and in actual practice the manually-operated bypass valve is inefiective to bring about bypass of the flow of moltenmetal until many pounds of molten metal have been spilled from the mold cavity before the incomplete closing of the mold halves has been detected by the operator. Even when such an eventuality has been detected, the reaction time of the operator still further delays the manual shifting by him of the bypass valve.

The present invention eliminates or reduces to a negligible amount such spill-out resulting from incomplete closing of the mold halves from Whatever cause, by providing instant and automatic operation of the bypass valve and consequent substantially immediate termination .of the further flow of molten metal to the mold cavity. The spill-out prevention device ofthe present invention, moreover, operates so rapidly that bypass of the molten metal from the delivery side of the pump back into the cauldron occurs almost instantaneously with the occurrence of incomplete mold closing, with the result that a negligible amount of molten type metal, of the order of one pound, is spilled, thereby saving much time, labor and expense otherwise necessitated by the removal of large amounts of solidified type metal from the mechanism of the stereotype plate-casting machine.

Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide a spill-out prevention device for stereotype plate-casting machines which will automatically and substantially instantaneously operate a pump bypass valve almost immediately upon the occurrence of incomplete'mold closing, without the necessity for vigilance or attention thereto on the part of the operator.

Another object is to provide a spill-out prevention device of the foregoing character which is actuated electrically in response to the severance of the shear pin between the machine elements interconnected by 'the shear vice of the foregoing character wherein the device includes an electromagnetic motor operatively connected to the bypass valve operating rod or shaft and energized in response to the operation of a switch actuated by the relative motion between the shear-pin-connected parts upon severance of the shear pin in the foreoing mannerv Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view, partly in central vertical section of the essential parts of a stereotype plate-casing machine having a molten metal pump equipped with an automatically-operating spill-out prevention bypass valve and circuit according to one form of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary vertical section along the line 22 in FIGURE 1 showing in left-hand side elevation the driving mechanism of the molten metal pump and also of the segment gear for opening and closing the mold halves;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the shear-pin-connected slidable rim segment gear of FIG- URE 1 with the shear pin intact and the spill-out prevention device accordingly held temporarily inoperative;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary radial section taken along the line 44 in FIGURE 3, showing the arrangement of the shear pin and adjacent parts; and

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 3, but showing the shear pin removed after having been severed in response to the occurrence of incomplete mold closing, and the toothed rim of a compound segment gear shifted accurately relatively to its web.

Stereotype Plate-Casting Machine Construction Referring to the drawings in detail, FIGURE 1 shows the mechanical parts, essential to the operation of the present invention, of a conventional line-casting machine, generally designated 10. Such conventional stereotype plate-casting machines are very complicated, and while their construction is well-known to those skilled in the stereotype plate casting art, the illustration and description of such parts in detail would serve no useful purpose, and might actually obscure the mechanical and electrical parts of the present invention. It is therefore sufficient for the purposes of the present invention to describe and illustrate only those parts which participate in the operation of the invention to substantially eliminate molten metal spill-out.

For the purposes of the present invention, therefore, the conventional stereotype plate-casting machine includes a motor 11 driving through speed-reducing sprockets and chain 12, 13, 14 and a worm shaft 15, the worm 16 of which meshes with and drives a worm gear 17 mounted on a shaft 18 (FIGURE 2). The shaft 13 is rotatably mounted in the frame (not shown) of the m&

chine 10. The worm gear 17 on its opposite sides is provided with approximately elliptical face cam grooves 19 and 20. The cam groove 20 is engaged by a cam follower roller 21 rotatably mounted on a stud 23 seated in the web 24 of a compound segment gear 22. The segment gear web 22 carries an arcuately-slidable toothed rim 25 which is temporarily and yieldably held in place by a breakable shear pin 26, this construction being described in more detail below. The compound segment gear 22 is mounted upon a shaft 23 also rotatably mounted in the machine frame.

Also meshing with the toothed rim 25 of the segment gear 22 is a segment pinion keyed to a shaft 32 journaled in the machine frame. The segment pinion 30 has integral therewith a radial arm 34 terminating in a yoke or boss 36 bored to receive a coupling shaft 38, the axis of which is arranged parallel to the axis of the shaft 32. Secured to the coupling shaft 38 is a connecting rod 40 which is operatively connected by conventional mechanism (not shown, but indicated by the dotted line 41) to the movable mold component or cylinder 42, to move back and forth on a suitable carriage (not shown) relatively to the stationary mold component, back or ring 44. The mold components 42 and 44 collectively form the mold set, generally designated 46, with an approximately semi-cylindrical mold cavity 48 between the mold halves 42 and 4-4 for receiving the stereotype mat or matrix M. Communicating with the mold cavity 43 so as to deposit molten type metal in the space 48 between the concave cylindrical surface 50 of the stationary mold component or back 44 and the convex cylindrical surface 52 of the movable cylinder 42 and thereby' force the stereotype mat M back against the cylindrical surface 56 of the stationary mold component or cylinder 44. is the nozzle 54 (FIGURE 1) of a molten metal delivery conduit or spout 56. The mold components 42 and 44 of the mold set 46 may be mounted either horizontal or vertical, different types of machines having both of these arrangements.

The molten metal delivery conduit 56 leads upward over the rim of a molten metal cauldron or pot 5S having a suitable heater 60 operated by electricity or gas, or other suitable heat source to maintain the type metal T in the cavity of chamber 62 of the cauldron 58 in a molten condition. Immersed in the type metal T within the cavity 62 below the level L thereof is the cylinder 64 of a reciprocatory molten metal pump, generally designated 66. The top or end wall 68 of the pump cylinder 64 has an outlet port 70 to which the molten metal supply conduit 56 is connected. The lower end of the pump cylinder 64 is open and has its lower portion provided with molten metal inlet ports 72.

Reciprocably mounted in the cylinder bore 74 of the pump cylinder 64 is a piston 76 bolted or otherwise secured to the lower end of a piston rod 78 which passes through the suitably bored stop and bearing boss 80 and upstanding top frame 32 of the pump 60 and is guided thereby in its reciprocation. The upper end of the piston rod 78 carries a cross pin 84 which is connected to a rocking link 86, the upper end of which is pivoted at 88 t0 the yoked forward end 90 of a pump operating arm 92, the hub of which is keyed or otherwise drivingly connected to a shaft 94 to which is keyed an arm 93 slotted longitudinally to slidably receive a traveling stroke-adjustment nut 95 moved to and fro by a screw shaft 96 rotated by a hand wheel 97. A link 99 pivotally connects the nut 95 to the outer end of a cam follower lever 101 pivoted at 103 to the machine frame and intermediate its ends carrying a cam follower roller 105 engaging the cam groove 20 in the worm gear 17 (FIGURE 2).

The top or end wall 63 of the pump cylinder 64- is also provided with a bypass valve port 98 which is closed and opened from below by a floating reciprocatory bypass valve disc 10% mounted on the lower end of a valve rod or stem 1' 2 and adapted to fioat in the molten type metal. Mounted on and bolted to posts or bosses 104 integral with and rising from the top or end wall 68 of the pump cylinder 64 is a battle plate 106 bored for the passage of the bypass valve rod 102 and adapted to deflect sidewise molten metal spurting up through the bypass valve port 98.

The top frame 82 of the pump 60 is also bored to provide guidance for the bypass valve rod 102 and also carries upstanding bracket structures 108 and 110 respectively spaced laterally apart from one another. The bracket structure 108 serves to rotatably support the obviously-mentioned shaft 94 whereas the bracket structure 110 at its upper end is bored to provide additional guid-- ance for the upper end of the bypass valve rod 102 which is there provided with a stop collar or head 112. The stop collar 112 is pinned or otherwise secured to the upperend of the bypass valve rod 102 to limit the downward, stroke thereof and accordingly to limit the width of open-. ing between the valve disc 100 and bypass port 98.

The bypass valve rod 102 near its upper end is pro;

vided with an enlarged collar 114 (Figure 1), the upper 'side of which is engaged by a rotary yoke or cam member Molten Metal Spill-Out Prevention Device The molten metal spill-out prevention device, generally designated 130, is mounted on the stereotype plate casting machine and includes a solenoid 132 mounted immediately above the upper end and stop collar 112 of the pump bypass valve rod 102. The armature 134 of the solenoid 132 (Figure 1) is moved downward into engagement with the head 112 on the bypass valve rod 102 to move the bypass valve disc 100 to its open position when the solenoid winding 136 is energized. The end of the solenoid winding 136 is connected by a line 138 to a source of electric current, whereas the other end is connected thereto by a pair of lines 140 and 142 respectively, by way of a bypass valve control switch 144 of normally open type (Figures 1, 3 and 5). The bypass control switch 144 is mounted on the web 24 of the compound segment gear 22 with its operating arm 146 disposed ad acent the inner edge 14% of the slidable toothed rim of the segment gear 22. Also mounted on theinner edge 148 is a cam 150 adapted to move into operative engagement with the switch arm 146 upon shearing of the yieldable shear pin 26 which prevents motion of the toothed rim 26 relatively to the web 24 of the segment gear 22.

Also mounted on the web 24 adjacent the toothed rim 25 of the segment gear 22 is a motor safety control switch 154 which has on its upper side aswinging operating arm 156 adapted to be actuated by an L-shaped cam 158 bolted or otherwise secured to the end of the toothed rim 25. Like the cam 1511, the cam 158 is normally spaced away from the switch arm 156 when the shear pin 26 is intact, but moves into engagement with the switch operating arm 156 when the shear pin 26 is severed, as explained below in connection with the operation of the invention. The motor control switch 154 is conventional and is connected by conventional wiring (not shown) into the control circuit of the driving motor of the motordriven output pinion 12 in such a manner as to deenergize the motor in response to severence of the shear pin 26 and consequent arcuate circumferential sliding of the toothed rim 25 of the segment gear 22 relatively to the web 24 thereof, as described below in connection with the operation of the invention.

In order to guide such arcuate sliding, the web 24 (FIGURE 4) is provided with an arcuate rib 160 which slidably fits a corresponding arcuate groove 162 in the arcuate toothed rim 25, both the rib 164 and groove 162 being concentric with the shaft 28. Bolted or otherwise secured to the rearward side of the toothed rim 25 of the segment gear 22 is an arcuate overhanging retaining plate 166 which in effect forms an arcuatechannel 164 for slidably receiving the correspondingly arcuate periphery 165 of the web 24 (FIGURE 4). The toothed rim 25 and web 24 are provided with aligned holes 168 and 170 for receiving the shear pin 26, the shank of which is provided with an annular weakening groove 172 to weaken it for precise shearing at the junction plane between the rim 25 and web 24. The holes 168 and 170 are so located as to temporarily lock the toothed rim 25 with its fixed cams 150 and 158 spaced away from the respece tive operating arms 156 and 146 of the electric switches 154 and 144 during normal operation, as shown in FIG? URE 3, so as to render these switches inoperative so long as the shear pin 126 remains intact.

6 Operation In the operation of the invention, let it be assumed that the stereotype mat M has been bent from its normallyv flat form into a curved or partially cylindrical form and fitted into the mold cavity 43 (FIGURE 1). Let it also be assumed that the conventional stereotype plate-casting machine 10 is operating in its normal manner with the motor-driven output sprocket 12 rotating the worm 16 and worm gear 17 with its cam grooves 19 and 20. The

cam follower roller 21 in the cam groove 1i! swings the compound segment gear 22 (FIGURES l and 3) through a suitable length of are so as to cause the segment pinion 30, arm 36, connectingrod 49 and connecting mecha-.

nism 41 to move the movable mold component or cylinder 52 into closing engagement with the stationary mold component 44. Meanwhile the swinging of the cam lever 161 by the engagement of the cam roller 1&5 in the cam groove 2%) of the rotating worm wheel 17 acts through the link 9? and arm 93 to swing the pump-operating arm 92 so as to raise the piston rod 78 of the molten metal pump 66, the chamber in the upper end of the cylinder bore 74 having been filled with molten metal through the ports 72 in the pump cylinder 64 when the pump piston 76 was below the ports 72.

The lifting of the pump piston 76 by the piston rod '78 automatically causes the bypass valve disc to close the port 98 in the cylinder end wall 68, thereby causing molten metal above the piston 76 to pass upward through the port 70 in the cylinder end Wall 68 and thence through the molten metal delivery conduit 56 downward through the nozzle 54 thereof into the mold cavity 48 where it forces the matrix M against the concave cylindrical surface 50 of the stationary mold component or ring 44 and thus casts an approximately semi-cylindricalprinting plate bearing on its convex surface the type and electrotype projections formed by the corresponding depressions in the matrix M.

The machine continues its normal operation to cause the descent of the pump piston 76 in the cylinder bore 74 and at the same time permit the bypass valve disc 1th) to drop in response to pump suction, admitting molten metal into the upper part of the cylinder bore 74 which is further enhanced by metal flow through the ports '72 as soon as the piston 76 passes below the ports 72. The

connecting mechanism 41 meanwhile moves the movable mold component 42 away from the stationary mold component 44 so as to permit withdrawal of the completed printing plate and permit subsequent reclosing of the mold halves 42 and 44 for repeated casting or other printing plates from the same matrix M, if such is desired. During this action, the web 24 and rim 25 of the segment gear 22 occupy the relative positions shown in FIGURE 3.

If, however, a chip or other piece or particle of foreign matter comes between the mold components 42 and 44, so as to prevent complete closing thereof, the mold component 42 halts prematurely, together with the segment pinion 34 This in turn halts the motion of the arcuate toothed rim 25 of the segment gear 22. The segment gear web 24, however, continues to be rotated by the cam follower roller 21 on the stud 23 engaging the cam groove 19, the relative motion between the web 24 and its toothed rim 25 shearing the shear pin 26 at its annular weakening groove 172 (FIGURE 4).

As a result of the shearing of the shear pin 26, the consequent motion of the segment gear web 24 relatively tothe now-halted segment gear rim 25 causes the operating fingers or levers 146 and 156 of the switches 144 and-154-to move into operative engagement with their respective cams 15d and 153 mounted on the now-halted segment gear rim 25. The consequent closing of the switch 154 causes de-energization of the motor 11 which drives the output sprocket 12, Worm 16 and worm wheel 17, but the momentum of the rotating parts continues to swing the pump-operating arm 92 and pump piston 76 upward (FIGURE 1) for a sufficient distance to cause continued delivery of a substantial quantity of molten metal from the pump 66 through the delivery spout 56- into the mold cavity 48, spilling out through the crack or gap created by the chip holding the mold components; 42 and 44 from closing were it not otherwise prevented.

Such spill-out of molten metal resulting from the momentum of the moving parts of the machine 10 is, however, effectively prevented by the substantially instant operation of the present invention. The shearing of the: shear pin 26 in the manner described above and the con-- sequent shifting of the web 24 of the segment gear 22 relatively to its toothed rim 25 also moves the operating lever or arm 146 of the switch 144- into operating engage ment with the cam 150 on the now-halted toothed rim. 25, closing the switch 144. This action closes the circuit between the lines 138 and 14-2 (FIGURE 1), energizing the solenoid 132.. The energization of the solenoid 132 causes its armature 134 to move downward into engagement with the head 1.12 and move the bypass valve rod 102 and its valve disc 1% downward away from the bypass valve port 98.

As a result of this enforced opening of the bypass port 98, any molten metal above the piston 76 of the pump- 66 being moved upward as a result of the momentum of the moving parts escapes directly into the chamber 62 of the molten metal cauldron 58 instead of passing upward through the port 7% and discharge spout 56 down ward to the mold cavity 48. As a consequence, the flow of molten metal is halted almost instantaneously, with: the spill-out through the crack between the mold components 42 and 44 of a negligible amount of molten metal which would otherwise occur by the overrunning of the moving parts of the machine due to momentum, even after de-energization of the motor which drives the output pinion 12.

As soon as the source of the difliculty preventing proper closing of the mold components 42 and 44 has been located and removed, the toothed rim 25 and web 24 are again brought back into proper alignment of the holes: 168 and 170, whereupon a new shear pin 26 is inserted and the machine is ready for further operation. As a result of the spill-out prevention device of the present invention, therefore, the tedious chipping out and removal of the spilled over and solidified molten metal from the adjacent parts of the plate-casting machine 10 is effectively eliminated, with a consequent elimination of the expensive labor costs and time of idleness of the machine 10.

What I claim is:

1. A metal spill-out-preventing pump-and-mold apparatus for installation in a conventional stereotype platecasting machine, said apparatus comprising a plate-casting mold including separable mold components defining a mold cavity therebetween, power-driven mechanism including relatively-movable driving and driven parts operatively connected to at least one of said mold components for selectively opening and closing said mold components, a fracturable coupling element normally interconnecting said relatively-movable driving and driven parts in relative-motion-restraining relationship and adapted to be fractured in response to incomplete closing of said mold components, a molten metal supply pump connected to said mold cavity for supplying molten type metal thereto and including a molten metal bypass valve, an electrical energization circuit adapted to be connected to a source of electricity, an electromagnetic valve-operating motive device connected to said circuit in energized relationship therewith and having a motive member operativcly connected to said bypass valve to engage and shift said bypass valve into its pump flow bypassing position in response to the energization of said motive device by said circuit, a circuit-energization control switch in said circuit connected to one of said relatively-movable parts and having an operating member extending into proximity to the other of said parts, and a switch-actuating element connected to the other relatively-movable part and movable in conformity to the motion thereof into actuating engagement with said switch-operating member in response to fracture of said coupling element upon premature halting of said driven part by incomplete closing of said mold components in cooperation with continued relative motion of said driving part relatively to said driven part.

2. A spill-out prevention attachment, according to claim 1, wherein the relatively-movable driving and driven parts comprise relatively rotatable pieces and wherein said switch is mounted on one of said pieces and said switch-actuating element is mounted on the other of said pieces.

3. A spill-out prevention attachment, according to claim 2, wherein one of said pieces comprises the central portion of a rotary wheel and wherein the other of said pieces comprises the rim of said wheel, said rim being arcuately-slidably mounted on said central portion.

4. A spill-out prevention attachment, according to claim 2, wherein one of said pieces comprises the huband-web portion of a gear and wherein the other of said pieces comprises the toothed rim of said gear, said rim being arcuately slidably mounted on said hub-and-web portion.

5. A spill-out prevention attachment, according to claim 4, wherein said switch is mounted on said hub-andweb portion of said gear and wherein said switch-actuating element comprises a cam mounted on said rim portion of said gear.

6. A spill-out prevention attachment, according to claim 1, wherein the pump bypass valve has a reciprocable valve-operating member and wherein said motive device has a reciprocable motive member engageable with said reciprocable valve-operating member.

7. A spill-out prevention attachment, according to claim 6, wherein said motive device comprises a solenoid with an actuating winding connected to said energization circuit and wherein said motive member comprises an armature engageable with said valve-operating member.

8. A spill-out prevention attachment, according to claim 6, wherein the relatively movable driving and driven parts comprise the relatively movable central and rim portions of a wheel, said rim portion being arcuately slidably mounted on said central portion.

9. A spill-out prevention attachment, according to claim 7, wherein the relatively movable driving and driven parts comprise the relatively movable central and rim portions of a wheel, said rim portion being arcuately slidably mounted on said central portion.

10. A spill-out prevention attachment, according to claim 8, wherein said switch is mounted on said central portion of said wheel and wherein said switch-actuating element comprises a cam mounted on said rim portion of said wheel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,619,694 Tornberg et al. Dec. 2, 1952 2,811,758 Holmes et al. Sept. 18, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 840,600 Germany June 3, 1952 

1. A METAL SPILL-OUT-PREVENTING PUMP-AND-MOLD APPARATUS FOR INSTALLATION IN A CONVENTIONAL STEREOTYPE PLATECASTING MACHINE, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING A PLATE-CASTING MOLD INCLUDING SEPARABLE MOLD COMPONENTS DEFINING A MOLD CAVITY THEREBETWEEN, POWER-DRIVEN MECHANISM INCLUDING RELATIVELY-MOVABLE DRIVING AND DRIVEN PARTS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO AT LEAST ONE OF SAID MOLD COMPONENTS FOR SELECTIVELY OPENING AND CLOSING SAID MOLD COMPONENTS, A FRACTURABLE COUPLING ELEMENT NORMALLY INTERCONNECTING SAID RELATIVELY-MOVABLE DRIVING AND DRIVEN PARTS IN RELATIVE-MOTION-RESTRAINING RELATIONSHIP AND ADAPTED TO BE FRACTURED IN RESPONSE TO INCOMPLETE CLOSING OF SAID MOLD COMPONENTS, A MOLTEN METAL SUPPLY PUMP CONNECTED TO SAID MOLD CAVITY FOR SUPPLYING MOLTEN TYPE METAL THERETO AND INCLUDING A MOLTEN METAL BYPASS VALVE, AN ELECTRICAL ENERGIZATION CIRCUIT ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED TO A SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY, AN ELECTROMAGNETIC VALVE-OPERATING MOTIVE DEVICE CONNECTED TO SAID CIRCUIT IN ENERGIZED RELATIONSHIP THEREWITH AND HAVING A MOTIVE MEMBER OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID BYPASS VALVE TO ENGAGE AND SHIFT SAID BYPASS VALVE INTO ITS PUMP FLOW BYPASSING POSITION IN RESPONSE TO THE ENERGIZATION OF SAID MOTIVE DEVICE BY SAID CIRCUIT, A CIRCUIT-ENERGIZATION CONTROL SWITCH IN SAID CIRCUIT CONNECTED TO ONE OF SAID RELATIVELY-MOVABLE PARTS AND HAVING AN OPERATING MEMBER EXTENDING INTO PROXIMITY TO THE OTHER OF SAID PARTS, AND A SWITCH-ACTUATING ELEMENT CONNECTED TO THE OTHER RELATIVELY-MOVABLE PART AND MOVABLE IN CONFORMITY TO THE MOTION THEREOF INTO ACTUATING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SWITCH-OPERATING MEMBER IN RESPONSE TO FRACTURE OF SAID COUPLING ELEMENT UPON PREMATURE HALTING OF SAID DRIVEN PART BY INCOMPLETE CLOSING OF SAID MOLD COMPONENTS IN COOPERATION WITH CONTINUED RELATIVE MOTION OF SAID DRIVING PART RELATIVELY TO SAID DRIVEN PART. 